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A farmworker in Michigan is the second person to become infected with the current H5N1 bird flu virus. The farmworker had mild symptoms and has since recovered, local health officials said. According to Michigan’s chief medical executive, Natasha Bagdasarian, the current health risk to the public remains low, but the virus has circulated in dairy and poultry farms across the country this spring. Here’s what we know about the bird flu infections.

Four more pet cats have died from H5N1 bird flu in the US. Two of the pets in South Dakota had no links to cattle dairy products - the first time there have been cases in pets without connections to outbreaks on farms. The development could be significant because it suggests the virus is edging closer to humans. South Dakota's state veterinarian, Beth Thompson, said there was no livestock on the property where the pets died, but said it is not yet known how to cats became infected. Two other cases of bird flu in barn cats on commercial diary...

New findings show that a strain of the H5N1 influenza virus has developed only a minimal capacity for airborne transmission. In March, the United States reported its first detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in dairy cattle, with outbreaks spreading to nine states by May. The transmission method among cattle remains unclear. However, a study published in Nature Communications revealed that a similar H5N1 strain, subtype clade 2.3.4.4b, which previously caused an outbreak in farmed mink in 2022, was capable of airborne transmission to a small group of ferrets. This is the first time that a member of...

Bioengineered bird flu souped up via gain-of-function lab work could be developed in a shockingly short period of time, former CDC Director Robert Redfield told News Nation recently: I think it puts our world at great risk. We have the risk of natural spillover, but there is a species barrier. I’m obviously most worried about bird flu. Right now, it takes five amino acid change for it to be effectively infecting humans. That’s a pretty heavy species barrier but this virus is already now in 26 mammal species, as you saw most recently in cattle. But in the laboratory, I...

Article EXCERPT:Federal health officials said the government is also pursuing an mRNA bird flu vaccine, based on the same technology as Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines.Chin-Hong said this type of vaccine could potentially be updated more quickly to match the currently circulating strains of the virus. But these vaccines have their own challenges, he said, such as needing to be stored at extremely cold temperatures.In addition, given that these vaccines would be a new use of the mRNA vaccine technology, the FDA may require clinical trials which could delay the roll-out to the greater population.There are other options for dealing...

In a recent Senate Committee briefing, Dr. Robert Califf, the head of the FDA, announced proactive measures being implemented in preparation for a potential bird flu pandemic that could prove deadly to a significant portion of the infected population. He highlighted that while the risk of transmission to humans remains low, the agency is not taking any chances, according to Daily Mail. Dr. Califf reported that only one human case has been confirmed so far—a farm worker in Texas this past March. Despite this, the potential for the virus to mutate and spread to humans necessitates rigorous preparedness. The Texas...

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has declared an “extraordinary animal health emergency” and imposed “the most comprehensive measures in the country” to combat highly pathogenic avian influenza. “Producers must immediately implement robust biosecurity practices and create emergency preparedness plans and this order starts to address these on-farm risks,” Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim Boring said statement last week. Those measures include a biosecurity manager for every farm, a secure perimeter around poultry, cleaning and disinfection for people and vehicles, a log of all people and vehicles that enter farms, isolation of lactating cows until 30 days after...

In a recent study published in the United States (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Emerging Infectious Disease Journal, a team of scientists reported the spread of the highly pathogenic hemagglutinin 5 neuraminidase 1 (H5N1) avian influenza clade 2.3.4.4b among cats and dairy cattle in the states of Texas and Kansas. The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have long been a threat to poultry and wild bird populations worldwide. They have also been a cause for concern in recent years because of their ability to infect various mammalian species. North America experienced an outbreak of the Eurasian...

Dairy cows cannot be moved between states without testing for the highly pathogenic avian influenza, U.S. officials announced on April 24. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a federal order that says “prior to interstate movement, dairy cattle are required to receive a negative test for Influenza A virus.” A strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A, H5N1, has been spreading across the country since first being detected in cows in March. The influenza is commonly known as the bird flu. At this point, no beef cattle are known to have been infected with the virus. The order,...

Bird flu has been detected in 'very high concentrations' in milk, health officials announced. The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that bird flu, also known as H5N1, has been found in raw milk, which is milk that does not go through standard pasteurization processes to rid it of bacteria. Officials said that pasteurized milk, which is standard in major retailers, is still safe. Bird flu has surged in cows and chickens throughout the US, with animals in 29 farms across eight states becoming affected, according to the CDC. Last week, Dr Darin Detwiler, former FDA and USDA food safety...

A recent statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) is sure to ruffle a few feathers. The international health group expressed “great concern” over the rising number of bird flu cases in humans. The organization also announced Friday that the virus has been found in raw milk. Dr. Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist at the WHO, noted that the avian flu, also called H5N1, had an “extremely high” mortality rate among those who had been infected around the world. “The great concern, of course, is that … [the] virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans. And then critically,...

The World Health Organization voiced alarm Thursday at the growing spread of H5N1 bird flu to new species, including humans, who face an “extraordinarily high” mortality rate. “This remains I think an enormous concern,” the UN health agency’s chief scientist Jeremy Farrar told reporters in Geneva. The current bird flu outbreak began in 2020 and has led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry, with wild birds also infected as well as land and marine mammals. Cows and goats joined the list last month — a surprising development for experts because they were not thought susceptible to this...

Row over 'tree man' virus samples By Felix Lowe and agencies Last Updated: 5:00pm GMT 26/11/2007 An Indonesian fisherman who developed tree-like growths on his hands and feet is at the centre of an international medical spat after his country's health minister criticised doctors trying to treat him. Indonesia's health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, lambasted the US doctor currently treating the 35-year-old man, who has the rare affliction caused by the Human Papilloma Virus. Indonesia's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari (second right) inspects Dede's tree-like growths Mrs Supari is angry that Dr Anthony Gaspari has taken blood and tissue samples...

ransomnote: The Deep State is working to 'cancel' The Expose financially, so I recommend that those interested download or print this article as the website may ultimately be removed, sooner rather than later.Historical concerns about the lethality of bird flu to humans have consistently proven unfounded, with no recorded deaths in the US from such outbreaks, despite significant government spending and public warnings in the past.Recent discussions around “global biosecurity” and the potential for disease outbreaks to foster a totalitarian world government have intensified. A weaponised bird flu could be the next major threat.Recent cases of bird flu affecting various...

Good morning, C&C family, it’s Friday! This morning’s post tumbles down the Great American Eclipse rabbit hole, with at least one wild, rarely-mentioned conspiracy theory surviving scrutiny; and the next 100-year pandemic has probably not arrived 96 years early, in spite of what the media wants you to believe. This morning I gave in to the eclipse hype — everyone else is talking about it. I put it all under a skeptical microscope, but at least one conspiracy theory remained not easily explained. Let’s begin with Forbes’ spooky story yesterday, headlined “Here’s Why The Total Solar Eclipse Has Prompted States...

The largest egg producer in the United States announced it is halting production at its Texas plant and culling the flock of nearly two million chickens. Cal-Maine Foods announced it would halt production at its Parmer County, Texas facility after it detected bird flu at the plant. The company destroyed 1.6 million egg-laying hens and 337,000 pullets (female chickens not yet mature enough to lay eggs) at the plant.

As avian influenza (bird flu) continues to spread among wild birds in the European Union, officials are warning of the potential for a future human pandemic. On Wednesday, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an alert noting that "transmission between bird and mammal species has been observed, particularly in fur animal farms, where outbreaks have been reported."

The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan. In Texas, Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at the facility in Parmer County, Texas. The plant is on the Texas-New Mexico border in the Texas Panhandle about 85 miles southwest...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A human case of avian influenza A(H5N1), also known as bird flu, has been confirmed in Texas, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported Monday The person had direct contact with dairy cattle presumed to be infected with avian influenza, the department said. Their only reported symptom was eye inflammation, and they’re now being treated with the antiviral drug oseltamivir (commonly known by the brand name Tamiflu). DSHS did not specify where the person lives or where they contracted the virus, however, officials last week confirmed an illness that impacted dairies in the Texas Panhandle was...

A virology team has confirmed the first bird flu infections in elephant and fur seals in the sub-Antarctic region, as the highly contagious H5N1 virus continues to spread around the world. Researchers previously reported the mass deaths of seals and that a number of elephant seals on South Georgia island – a UK overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean – had been exhibiting symptoms of avian flu. But while seabird cases were confirmed, the seal infections were classed as suspected, pending lab results. The first known cases of H5N1 were detected in the Antarctic region in October among brown...